Jordan Clarkson Discussion: Sky's the limit!

I think he was changing his stance a bit on Dragic? Maybe he was starting to agree? Honestly, I think people see "Rondo" in a sentence and everything else gets blocked out because he would be such a desperate signing. I know I kind of do. It's like, Rondo? RONDO?!?!?

 

Wait wait wait please tell me you're not saying we can sign JAMEER NELSON for up to SEVEN million but absolutely cannot sign Rondo. C'mon man! Nelson is alright, but he's not even as good as this year's version of Rondo! That's awful! I've been on the Mo Williams train since I think I saw @Doc Brown mention it a while ago. I like Mo and I'd definitely be in support of bringing him here. I think he'd be a near perfect bridge to getting Clarkson 100% ready to carry the team at the guard position. If we could nail down Mo Williams for 3/15-18 million I'd be down for that absolutely.

My only point with the Rondo talk is that if we can get talent for cheap, but still fill out our roster with legitimate talent I'm down for it. That means we need to pick up someone this summer that can carry us in some way. Whether that's defensively with DeAndre Jordan, or offensively like Dragic and Monroe, just whatever it takes to get SOMEONE that can win us 5-10 games next season. I know Rondo isn't what he used to be, but he's better than what he's doing right now. He's an awful fit in Dallas and I think in a different spot for the right amount of money he'd be a good asset. I'm not married in any way to picking him up, just using his name as an example.

 

Oh no, no, no. I said those three guys for 3-7 million meaning depending who you sign of those 3 would depend on the number. Nelson represented that 3 number. Williams was the 7 number. Lin is probably in the 4-5 range. In no way was I inferring we sign Jameer to 7 million.

 

Phew! I was worried about you for a minute there!

 

You should probably still be worried about me...just not for that.

 

Well whoever it was had a great idea. I'd take Mo Williams as a starter for 2-3 years until he retires and let Clarkson grow in a more controlled environment. As long as we used the other cash to bring in either a strong post player or a solid wing. There's not that many high profile wings this summer, so bring on Greg Monroe.

 

So here's a question. For the sake of argument, let's say we draft Okafor. That makes Monroe utterly pointless. Are you still ok signing only Mo Williams at point guard (and letting Clarkson grow at his own pace where he can start or be a sixth man, whatever suits him)? Because as you pointed out, there are no great wing players. Danny Green and Draymond Green are both intriguing, but could easily just be system success stories. Middleton is definitely doing things on his own, but are the last two seasons enough of a sample size to invest what will probably be at least an 8 million a year payday (maybe more)? I ask because you are a huge proponent of adding pieces even if we have to overpay. Would you be pissed if we didn't go after Dragic and instead just signed Mentor Mo and played the youngins?

 

I wouldn't mind signing Mo one bit. Do It Mitch!

 

If we end up getting the number 5 pick I wouldn't mind taking Johnson, then going after Mo and Monroe. Works for me. As ever, I think it all depends on who we draft as to who we go after in FA.

 

@Savory Griddles I think if we draft Towns or Okafor or outside chance at WCS, we end up overpaying for Dragic or (gulp for most of you) paying for Rondo.

Personally I'd try to go get Draymond Green or Danny Green or Middleton or Demarre Carroll and then grab Mo Williams. Then we have plenty of cash to bring back guys we want AND upgrade at three positions while leaving enough room to grow and develop. Check it:

Towns- 4.5 milion
Hou 1st (RJ Hunter)- 1.1 million
2nd Round (Jake Layman)- 0.532 million

Waive Sacre. Total salary = 42,897,777 million + Cap Holds = 45,025,777 million (available 22,374,223 million).

Sign Middleton to 4/34.5 million dollars. Sign Mo Williams to 3/18 million. Sign Ed Davis to 4/24 million. Sign Wayne Ellington 4/9 million.

Mo Williams/Jordan Clarkson
Kobe Bryant/Wayne Ellington/RJ Hunter
Khris Middleton/Nick Young/Jake Layman
Julius Randle/Tarik Black/Ryan Kelly
Ed Davis/Karl Anthony-Town

 

I'd be happy with that squad. Still tough to get to the playoffs next year but it's a nice collection of good players and guys with upside like Clarkson, Randle and Town. Then Kobe comes off for the next year and you can go after one of the big FA's to lead it.

I like that better than overspending for Dragic for sure.

Personally I don't have a lot of faith that we'll be getting into the top 3 picks, and think it more likely we'll drop to the fifth due to someone else moving into the top 5 five. So I'm thinking we are more likely to get a wing than a big or a PG. But . . . it all depends.

 

Eureka! We have done it Real! We have found an offseason the 2 of us can fully get behind!!! Although, watching Towns and Okafor, I think they both start over Ed Davis. Davis is a perfect backup big. But both of them, Okafor especially, can and probably would start from day one. Middleton is definitely the man I'd choose between him and the two Greens. I might also try to get Mo for 2 seasons instead of 3.

Best thing about that lineup is it runs out 5 very talented players who will likely be playing starter type minutes (Towns, Randle, Clarkson, Middleton, Davis) that are going to be 26 or younger at the start of the season.

Not sure about Hunter though. I love the value mid-major stars can give (I was hoping we could trade to get a mid first rounder and nab Elfrid Payton last offseason before he became a top prospect), but Hunter's shooting %s are really bad. 40% overall and 30% from downtown (in college). If he's having trouble from college range, pro range could be a disaster. I like George Lucas (the Brazilian kid, not the filmmaker ) better. He's 18 playing professionally and he is a bigger pg with gigantic hands. If we have Clarkson and Mo Williams, taking another pg with that Houston pick might be a good bet. With those two in front of him, he'd have a couple years to develop.

But I love our big man rotation as stated above. Towns and Randle with Davis and Black backing them up...maybe Teardrop coming in to burn defenses with his patented Teardrop Runner.

I kind of wonder if the Lakers are even looking at Mo.

 

I just threw a name out that I recognized from DE for Hunter. I think Hunter is billed as a shooter, but he's struggled so far.

I'm sure Mo is on their list of guys to keep an eye on, but I think they're looking at making a bigger splash first. I would be supportive of either method honestly as long as we upgrade the talent on the roster!

I started Ed Davis for the same reason I wanted Randle off the bench early in the season: it's easier for these guys to develop against bench players. Towns and/or Okafor will dominate bench players and it'll help them develop easier. Eventually in the season they'd probably move to the starting role.

 

"Next year, all of those shots you're taking are my shots."